William Arthur Steel MC (November 3, 1890 – November 28, 1968) was a

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

officer during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and a radio pioneer. Steel was born in 1890 in Castleton, Ontario and graduated from electrical engineering from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

in 1915.

Military career

After graduation he joined the

(

Permanent Active Militia Permanent Active Militia (PAM), also known as Permanent Force (PF), was the proper name of Canada's full-time professional land forces from 1855 to 1940, when it was reorganized into the Canadian Army. PAM was in effect Canada's standing army, con ...

) in

in France as a wireless officer. He was awarded an MC in the

1917 Birthday Honours The 1917 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

.Post war he became Chief Wireless Officer with the Canadian Army Signals Corps and was in charge of the

National Research Council National Research Council may refer to: * National Research Council (Canada), sponsoring research and development * National Research Council (Italy), scientific and technological research, Rome * National Research Council (United States), part of ...

's radio laboratory in the early 1930s.

Later years

Steel retired as

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in 1936, and later served as a commissioner with the

Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC), also referred to as the Canadian Radio Commission (CRC), was Canada's first public broadcaster and the immediate precursor to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Origins The CRBC was establish ...

, which became the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

. He was involved with

William Duncan Herridge William Duncan Herridge (September 18, 1887 – September 21, 1961) was a Canadian politician and diplomat. Early life He was the son of William T. Herridge, a former moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Canada. Herridge was educated a ...

in the

New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in Chinese Communist Revolution, post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path ...

, a party that advocated

social credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Steel helped create radio network in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

and radio for civil aviation in Canada. Steel later worked as a consultant and involved in the

DEW Line The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the north coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska (see Proj ...

until his death.

Death

He died in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, in 1968 and was buried at

Beechwood Cemetery Beechwood Cemetery, located in the former city of Vanier in Ottawa, Ontario, is the National Cemetery of Canada. It is the final resting place for over 82,000 Canadians from all walks of life, such as important politicians like Governor Genera ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steel, William Arthur 1890 births 1968 deaths Canadian military personnel from Ontario University of Toronto alumni People from Northumberland County, Ontario Burials at Beechwood Cemetery (Ottawa) Canadian military personnel of World War I Canadian Expeditionary Force officers Royal Canadian Corps of Signals officers Canadian recipients of the Military Cross